Workplace sexual harassment in focus as national inquiry comes to WA

Social media played an important role in exposing sexual harassment, but it will not solve the problem, Australia’s Sex Discrimination Commissioner has warned.

Kate Jenkins is preparing to travel to WA next week as part of a national inquiry which came on the back of the recent National Sexual Harassment Survey, revealing an increase in Australians who have experienced sexual harassment at work — up to one in three Aussies, as opposed to the one in five reported in the previous survey conducted in 2012.

The National Inquiry into Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces will hold consultations in Perth and Geraldton next week, seeking to determine the level of harassment, as well as potential roads to eliminating it from work environments.

Ms Jenkins said the latest national survey revealed an increase in reported cases, but they were only the “tip of the iceberg”.

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“Usually when people go to a place like the Human Rights Commission or the Equal Opportunity Commission in WA, it’s often because they’ve tried all other options and they’re really at their wits’ end,” she said.

“I think it’s also important to realise that I think as a nation Australians prefer not to complain, they don’t want to be seen as whingers, they don’t want to be not taking a joke.

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“Some of the conversations I’m having is how can we find a better way for people to raise low-level concerns without people having to bring a big complaint.”

Speaking to WAtoday on the one-year anniversary of allegations being aired against US film producer Harvey Weinstein, and the subsequent #MeToo movement, Ms Jenkins said the social media campaign was a good way for people to share their experiences without lodging individual complaints.

“My view is though that media and social media is not going to solve the problem,” she said.

“A tweet isn’t going to just change the deeply entrenched attitudes and ways people operate at work.

“My sense is we need to leverage on that real appetite for change and we need to start having conversations like the conversations that I’m having across the country to look for what are solutions, not just ‘we need to do more training’ or ‘we need more policies’.

“We need to really try to understand why is this still happening when most people absolutely don’t think sexual harassment should be happening.”

Ms Jenkins relayed conversations where women had told her they felt more courage to speak up because of #MeToo, but others were cautious, wary of how the media latched on and tore reputations to shreds — both those of the accused and the accuser.

Next week’s consultations will be the second carried out as part of the inquiry, with the first held in Hobart last week.

Chief among the concerns to be investigated in Geraldton — the first regional centre to be visited — will be how smaller communities influenced reporting of sexual harassment, and how prevalent it was in traditionally male-dominated industries such as mining and construction.

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“When I did start in this role I did observe that the experience in rural regional and remote Australian on gender equality is a lot more challenging,” Ms Jenkins said.

“For example, being employed in areas where communities are much more close-knit, where it might be much more difficult to speak up against someone who is your employer, there might be fewer options for other jobs.”

The recent survey revealed the media, information and telecommunication industries ad the highest rate of workplace sexual harassment, but also found women experience the highest risk of harassment in male-dominated industries.

Ms Jenkins said it was a “misconception” what were typically seen as antiquated ideals were being phased out as older generations moved on from the workforce, and said casual work and the emerging gig economy meant young people were less inclined to report harassment.

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“If you don’t have a secure job, a full-time job, and you’re a young person trying to get your first job, you’re unlikely to raise a complaint; you’re unlikely to put at risk your income that might be paying your rent because you’re not happy with sexual comments or jokes at your expense,” she said.

“I think we will get better but you can’t just turn a blind eye and just think this gets better inevitably.”